National Affairs: A Promise Is a Promise

Senator J. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, Dixiecrat candidate for
President in 1948, was the first man ever to be elected to Congress by
write-in votes against an opponent whose name was printed on the
ballot. Thurmond stumped as a write-in because he was angry at the
South Carolina Democratic Executive Committee for hand-picking a
candidate (Edgar Brown) instead of holding a primary. In that campaign
Thurmond promised the voters that, if elected, he would resign before
the next regular primary to let them do the picking.